Whatever their ancient origins - Celtic, Norse or Norman-French - by the 13th century the clan system was well established in the Highlands of Scotland. It was a distinct Gaelic tribal culture, which, in its 15th century heyday, threatened the authority of the Stewart monarchy itself. Though increasingly brought into contact with the rest of Scotland, the clan system survived largely intact until its dismantling in the years following 1746, a consequence of the failure of the final Jacobite uprising on the bloody field of Culloden.
The clans - their heyday and their demise
In Gaelic, the word clann means family or children. The clan system was completely separated by language, custom and geography.
The clans lived off the land more or less self-sufficiently, with cattle as their main wealth. Stealing cattle (sometimes in order to survive) was widespread, as were territorial disputes between clans. Land was owned by the chief, rather than individual clansmen, and was held either directly from the Crown or from other superior clan chiefs.
The most powerful chiefs in some places kept expensive courts and retainers for prestige and had virtual autonomy over matters of law and order within their territory. Not all of a clan chieftain's preoccupations were war-like. For example, an important member of the chief's retinue was the bard, who could both compose an epic poem, perhaps recalling a feat of heroism in battle, and recite lineage, which was an important part of his role as the recorder of the clan's history. The clan piper was another hereditary post, of whom the MacCrimmons, hereditary pipers to the MacLeods, were perhaps the most famous.
However, by the 18th century, with agricultural improvements spreading from the Lowlands and with some road-building taking place which made communications easier, clans and their chiefs were brought more and more into contact with 'southern' ways. Thus, even without the shock of Culloden and the violent reaction of the Lowland authorities (which included the proscription or banning of tartan and the forfeiting of rebel clan chief's estates) the old clan system was gradually being absorbed into a modern economic society.
蘇格蘭的家族體系，無(wú)論是源自凱爾特人，斯堪的那維亞還是諾曼-法國(guó)人，到13世紀(jì)時(shí)，在蘇格蘭高地上家族制度已極具規(guī)模。家族是蓋爾人獨(dú)特的部落文化的一部分，到15世紀(jì)的鼎盛時(shí)期，家族體系對(duì)斯圖亞特王朝的統(tǒng)治甚至構(gòu)成了威脅。各家族之間相互聯(lián)系，直到1746年詹姆士派被鎮(zhèn)壓的卡洛登一戰(zhàn)后，家族體系才逐步瓦解。
家族制度的興盛和消亡
在蓋爾語(yǔ)中，clan的意思是家庭和孩子。家族是完全按照語(yǔ)言、習(xí)慣和地理方位而劃分的。
各個(gè)家族都擁有土地，基本可以自給自足，但他們主要的財(cái)產(chǎn)是牛。從別人家偷牛（有時(shí)是生活所迫）是很普遍的，家族之間的地盤(pán)爭(zhēng)端也層出不窮。土地歸家族首領(lǐng)所有，土地的最高擁有人是地位更高的家族首領(lǐng)或國(guó)王。
最有權(quán)利的家族首領(lǐng)擁有豪華的庭院和眾多仆從以顯示身份，且在法律和規(guī)則方面擁有無(wú)形的自主權(quán)。當(dāng)然，家族首領(lǐng)生活的全部并不是爭(zhēng)斗，家族中的重要人物之一是詩(shī)人，他們負(fù)責(zé)譜寫(xiě)經(jīng)典詩(shī)歌，歌頌戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中的英雄精神，或陳述宗譜。家族的吹奏手也是家族中的重要人物，其中最著名的如MacCrimmons以及世襲的麥克勞德（MacLeods）。
18世紀(jì)，隨著低地農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展和交通的日益便利，家族和家族首領(lǐng)與南部英格蘭地區(qū)之間的溝通越來(lái)越頻繁。所以，即使沒(méi)有卡洛登一戰(zhàn)和低地地區(qū)的過(guò)激反應(yīng)（禁裙令和沒(méi)收反叛家族首領(lǐng)的財(cái)產(chǎn)），古老的家族制度也會(huì)逐漸融入到新型的商業(yè)社會(huì)中。
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